LCA Food 2012 in Saint Malo, France! - Manifestations et colloques ...

GROUP 3, SESSION A: LABELLING, CONSUMERS, DIET 8 th Int. Conference on LCA in the
Agri-Food Sector, 1-4 Oct 2012
91. Food waste amounts and avoidability in Switzerland
Claudio Beretta 1,* , Franziska Stoessel 1 , Stefanie Hellweg 1 , Urs Baier 2
1 ETH Zurich, Institute of Environmental Engineering, Schafmattstrasse 6, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland 2
ZHAW Wädenswil, Life Sciences und Facility Management, Einsiedlerstrasse 29, CH-8820 Wädenswil,
Switzerland, Corresponding author. E-mail: cberetta@ethz.ch
A key element in making our food system more efficient and sustainable is the reduction of food losses
across the entire food chain (Quested and Johnson, 2009). Nevertheless, in many LCA analyses food losses
are missing. The first step in developing efficient measures is the analysis of the present situation and the
identification of hotspots. This paper aims to quantify the food losses in Switzerland at the various stages of
the food chain (agricultural production, postharvest handling and trade, processing, food service industry,
retail, and households), to identify hotspots and analyse the reasons for the losses. Twenty-two food categories
are modelled separately in a mass and energy flow analysis, based on data from 31 companies within the
Swiss food chain, as well as from public institutions, associations, and from literature.
The energy balance shows that 48% of the total produced calories (edible crop yields at harvest time and
animal products, including slaughter waste) is lost across the whole food chain. Half of these losses would be
avoidable. The allocation of the avoidable food losses to the various stages of the food chain identifies agricultural
production, the processing industry and households as playing a key role. Households waste 45% of
the edible calories lost over the entire food chain. However, there are various uncertainties in quantifying
food losses. A major uncertainty lies in the quantification of losses in agricultural production, which are
mainly caused by quality sorting and omission of harvest due to high fluctuations in demand and inappropriate
organisation. Further research to quantify losses and to develop strategies for optimisation is especially
important in this field.
A broader scenario focuses on the potential increase in food availability by replacing animal products relying
on feed grown on arable land by vegetarian products. In Switzerland, livestock relies up to one third on feed
that is grown on arable land. If one third of the animal products were substituted by vegetarian products,
45% more calories would be available for consumption. If, additionally, all the edible parts of the food produced
for Swiss consumption were eaten by humans, 50% more calories would be available (Fig. 1).
References
Quested, T., Johnson, H., 2009. Household Food and Drink Waste in the UK: A report containing quantification
of the amount and types of household food and drink waste in the UK. Report prepared by WRAP
(Waste and Resources Action Programme). Banbury.
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